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A class action lawsuit (Bartz v. Anthropic) filed in August 2024 alleged Anthropic used over 7 million digital copies of copyrighted books acquired from pirating sites Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror to train its Claude language models. In June 2025, Judge Alsup ruled that while using legally acquired books for AI training was fair use, training on pirated copies was not protected.

Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson and his wife Erica were leading contributors to Future Forward USA, the super PAC behind Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, donating approximately $7 million. In August 2024, they each gave $1 million to FF PAC supporting Kamala Harris. Lawson co-founded DemocracyFirst PAC in 2022 to support pro-democracy candidates, which spent $3 million in 2024 opposing Republican candidates.

Intel announced it would lay off more than 15% of its staff, or 15,000 employees, as part of a plan to reduce spending by $10 billion in 2025. CEO Pat Gelsinger stated: 'Our revenues have not grown as expected — and we've yet to fully benefit from powerful trends, like AI. Our costs are too high, our margins are too low.'

Over 30 current and former employees filed a class action lawsuit against TSMC alleging systematic discrimination against American and non-Asian workers at the Arizona facility. Plaintiffs claim foreign workers from Taiwan received preferential treatment while American workers faced hostile conditions and were denied promotions. The lawsuit also raised CHIPS Act compliance concerns.

In August 2024, Andreessen and Horowitz launched 'Leading the Future' (LTF), a super PAC focused on ensuring minimal AI regulation. Backed by OpenAI's Greg Brockman, Palantir's Joe Lonsdale, and Perplexity, it raised $100 million to influence AI policy in favor of industry.

In August 2024, Canva announced a price increase for Teams subscriptions from approximately $120/year to $500/year for a team of five, a 300%+ increase justified by AI features. After significant customer backlash on social media and subscription cancellations, Canva partially reversed the increase in October 2024 with a 'Pricing Promise' that restored legacy pricing for early adopters and committed to 60 days notice for future changes.

In August 2024, electrician Victor Joe Gomez Sr. was electrocuted at Tesla's Austin gigafactory. OSHA issued three 'serious' violations at maximum level, fining Tesla ~$50,000. Separately, Tesla was fined $7,000 for exposing workers to hexavalent chromium without training. The Austin plant had the 8th most injuries of any US workplace in 2023 (~1 injury per 13 workers).

Amazon's Project Kuiper received FCC approval to launch 3,236 internet satellites despite calls from environmental groups for comprehensive environmental review. A GAO report criticized the FCC for not conducting environmental assessments of mega-constellation impacts. In August 2024, advocacy groups petitioned to halt satellite launches pending proper environmental review of orbital debris, atmospheric effects, and astronomy interference impacts.

John Collison has donated approximately $233,000 to Democratic candidates and organizations as of August 2024, including contributions to Kamala Harris and the Democratic National Committee. This represents personal political giving, not company contributions.

Spain's competition authority (CNMC) fined Booking.com €413 million for abusing its 70-90% market dominance over 5 years. Violations included: enforcing price parity clauses preventing hotels from offering lower prices elsewhere, unilaterally reducing room prices, opaque commission programs (Preferred, Genius), and manipulating search rankings to restrict competition from other OTAs.

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham publicly shared anti-DEI sentiments in 2024, questioning whether diversity funding metrics were excessive. Under CEO Garry Tan's leadership, YC has not emphasized diversity as a priority. Diversity metrics showed declining representation: the Summer 2022 batch had only 15% women founders (down from 17.9% prior cohort) and only 7% Black founders. As of 2025, only 11% of YC founders are women overall.

On July 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court unanimously upheld Proposition 22, allowing Uber and other gig companies to classify drivers as independent contractors rather than employees. Uber and other gig companies had spent $200 million to pass Prop 22 in 2020 - the most expensive ballot measure in California history.

In July 2024, Reid Hoffman publicly called for Vice President Kamala Harris to replace Lina Khan as FTC Chair if elected. Khan had aggressively pursued antitrust enforcement against Big Tech, including unsuccessfully trying to block Microsoft's $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. Hoffman's call was widely criticized as a major Democratic donor seeking to weaken tech regulation, given his financial interests in companies affected by FTC enforcement including Microsoft (board member until 2023) and various tech investments through Greylock Partners.

On July 24, 2024, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced an entry ban on 13 Japanese business executives including Hiroshi Mikitani. The decision was described as 'a response to Japan's ongoing sanctions against our country in connection with the special military operation.' Mikitani had previously donated $8.7 million to Ukraine.

ServiceNow reported potential compliance issues to the DOJ related to hiring Raj Iyer, former CIO of the US Army, to head its global public sector. Iyer joined ServiceNow three months after the Army awarded the company a $432 million contract. Following an internal investigation, President/COO CJ Desai resigned after the board determined company policy was violated. CEO Bill McDermott described the hiring decision as 'ill-timed.'

On the 'One Decision' podcast, Hinton referred to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg as 'oligarchs' and when asked if he trusted them to control AI, responded that calling them oligarchs answers that question.

Reed Hastings made his largest single-candidate donation ever, contributing $7 million to a super PAC supporting Kamala Harris in July 2024. This followed his public call for Biden to step aside, stating 'Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump.'

In July 2024, Sandberg publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, praising her as 'an accomplished leader, a fierce advocate of abortion rights, and the strongest candidate to lead our country forward.'

Sam Altman funded OpenResearch's Unconditional Cash Study, the largest UBI pilot in the United States. Beginning in 2020, 3,000 participants in Illinois and Texas received $1,000 monthly for three years, representing a 40% boost to recipients' incomes. The study published peer-reviewed findings in 2024. Altman has publicly argued that AI-driven job displacement may necessitate universal basic income, and in 2021 proposed that AI could generate enough wealth to pay every US adult $13,500 per year.

David Sacks delivered a primetime speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2024, making the case for Trump to Silicon Valley and discussing the need for pro-business and pro-crypto policies. The speech signaled growing tech industry alignment with Trump.

Ben Horowitz donated $2.5M to Right for America PAC (2024) and $3M to MAGA Inc. (first half 2025), marking a dramatic shift from his decades as a Democratic donor. Between 2008-2023, he and wife Felicia had given nearly $300,000 to Democrats including Obama, Biden, and Booker. After 2022, two-thirds of their donations went to Republicans.

Marc Andreessen donated $2.5M to Right for America PAC (2024), $844,600 to Trump campaign/RNC (2024), and $3M to MAGA Inc. (first half 2025). Since the election, he has been spending 'about half his time' at Mar-a-Lago as an unpaid advisor, helping vet candidates for DOGE and the administration.

Elon Musk publicly endorsed Trump in July 2024 and appeared at Trump campaign rallies, jumping on stage at a Pennsylvania rally in October 2024. He used his X platform to actively promote Trump and attack Democrats, leveraging his massive following for political influence.

At the Sun Valley Conference in July 2024, Reid Hoffman reportedly responded to Peter Thiel's comment about making Trump a martyr by saying he wished he had made Trump an 'actual martyr.' The comment came just before the attempted assassination of Trump. Hoffman later clarified he 'meant nothing about any sort of physical harm or violence.'

A July 2024 CNN investigation found that Airbnb systematically failed to protect guests from hidden cameras in rental properties. The investigation revealed Airbnb does not notify law enforcement when hosts violate its camera policy, even when children are involved. The company used Section 230 as a legal shield and kept the scope of the problem hidden through arbitration, confidential settlements, and employee NDAs. A survey found 55% of hosts admitted to still using indoor cameras even after Airbnb's 2024 ban.

In July-August 2024, Samsung Electronics workers staged the company's first-ever strike in its 55-year history. The National Samsung Electronics Union, representing over 30,000 workers, walked out demanding higher wages, better bonus structures, and an additional day of annual leave. The strike highlighted growing labor tensions at a company historically known for suppressing union activity.

During federal trial in Lowell v. Lyft wheelchair accessibility lawsuit, former head of Lyft's national WAV program Chris Wu testified that Lyft's policy is to do 'as little as possible unless forced' to serve people with disabilities. Lyft only offers WAV service in 4% of total service areas (9 cities). WAV Program Manager testified she had no professional experience in transportation management, Americans with Disabilities Act, or developing programs for people with disabilities prior to joining Lyft. Budget for WAV services decreasing from 2023 to 2024. Lyft consistently argues it's merely a 'technology company' not subject to ADA, claims it's 'not in the transportation business.' Judge dismissed case September 30, 2024, finding plaintiffs didn't prove proposed accommodations would be effective.

On July 5, 2024, Hitachi Zosen Corporation announced that two subsidiaries had falsified fuel efficiency and emissions data for large marine engines since 1999, affecting 1,364 units including 903 non-Japanese flag vessels. Data was overwritten during shop tests. Japanese authorities launched investigation of all marine engine manufacturers and suspended related certifications.

Sir Philip Hulme, co-founder and major shareholder of Computacenter, made multiple donations totaling £25,000 to Reform UK in 2024, including a donation just three days before the July general election. This followed his historical pattern of Conservative Party donations.

Ron Conway donated approximately $500,000 to at least two funds tied to Kamala Harris's 2024 campaign. Signed the VCsforKamala pledge alongside other venture leaders. Long-time prominent Democratic donor.